Friends, secrets and wine
by RosevalleyNB
Summary: This was the perfect time to strike. Katie was going to spill her secret, if she wanted to or not. AU/ One-shot


**Disclaimer: Anything related to Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. This work of fiction was created entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

The Broom Closet was busy for a Wednesday evening. The restaurant had opened its doors just a few weeks earlier and almost overnight became one of the places to be in Diagon Alley. The clientele mainly existed of Wizarding Britain's younger witches and wizards who had adopted the establishment as the place to meet each other. The modern music (_too loud_) and minimalistic design (_too white_) and the haute cuisine (_too small portions_) didn't appeal to the older generation. And now, with Hogwarts out for the summer, it was even busier.

At one of the tables by the overly large windows, three women sat chatting and eating their dinner accompanied by generous amounts of wine. The women, once the best of friends at Hogwarts, hadn't seen each other in a long while and it had taken them quite some time before they had been able to find a date which suited all three. Ever since the two eldest of the friends had finished school, the friendship between them and their younger friend had been put on a low ebb. Their schedules and lives clashed just too much to meet up regularly and preserve the amity that once was.

Angelina Johnson, a full-fledged Auror since several months, took a last bite of her steak and pushed away her clean plate, still a bit hungry. She was enjoying herself immensely and vowed to make more time for her friends as she missed her friends and having these kind of outings with them. Leaning back in her chair, she watched Alicia and Katie chat animatedly about a newest Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes' inventions.

She was secretly glad she'd ended her relationship with Fred last year. The twins' jokes and tricks were fun, until you had to live with it twenty for seven. No, she'd her fare share over the years and it had been enough. Especially after Fred had turned her hair purple and her skin orange with green spots, for three long days, after 'treating' her to cake. That had been the last straw for Angelina. How Alicia managed to put up with it on a daily basis was beyond her. By the end of their relationship, Angie had been ready to murder Fred, bring him back to life and kill him all over again.

As she watched her friends' happy chatter, Angelina couldn't shake off the feeling that something was not completely right with Katie. The fact that she was not able to put her finger on what it might be, bugged her to no end. Whereas Alicia and Angelina had shared each and every detail of their lives, the good and the bad, starting from the day they had last seen each other, Katie had been more reserved about the happenings in her life. More so than usual, Katie never had been very forthcoming about her private life. She usually brushed over the topics that mattered and delved unnecessarily deeper into the ones no-one was interested in.

Like earlier this evening; Katie stated it was _fun_ playing for Puddlemere's reserve team and raved for, what seemed hours, about her mother's bakery where she worked part-time. One should not describe playing for Puddlemere as mere fun and proceed describe in detail how tasty Mrs Bell's crumpets were. Puddlemere was one of the better teams in the competition and had some of the most handsome men in the country playing for them, first and second string. So, just _fun_ should not be enough to describe that. Angelina wanted details, the dirt and preferably mental images of all that male goodness and was quite disappointed that Katie didn't want to share.

It was not just that. Even though Katie was smiling and chatting, Angie was experiencing a déjà vu kind of feeling. It was in the way Katie would absentmindedly glance outside or just study her hands whenever she thought Alicia or Angie weren't paying attention. But they were, and it was clear Katie was hiding something. It was Hogwarts all over again. Come to think of it, hadn't this distant behaviour hers start back then?

Alicia cast a quick glance at Angie, while Katie was talking about some new Quidditch manoeuvre she was learning. The look on Angie's face confirmed Alicia's suspicion; their little Bell was hiding something. Again. Like she had during her fourth year. Back then, they had never found out what it was. As Katie had returned to her old self by the beginning of her fifth year, the two older girls had never questioned the matter any further and simply forgot about it.

Katie probably thought she had been sly back then; sneaking out of the tower late at night, only to return just before dawn. Hiding love bites – quite poorly- and the ever dreamy look on her face when she'd thought no-one was watching her. But, being caught up with their own boyfriends at the time, Angie and Alicia had let their friend have her secret boyfriend. Knowing Katie and her weird tastes - she once said the Graham Montague was good looking, for Merlin's sake- the boy in question probably would not have been much to look at anyway. They had assumed that she would confide in them when the time came, but she never had. Well, that wasn't going to work this time. If she was seeing some strange bloke, Alicia demanded to know about him.

While Katie moved on to a boring story about Leanne and her Arithmancy apprenticeship, Alicia was racking her brains on how she could get Katie to talk about her love life. The girl never dated – that she knew of, anyway-, nor mentioned any men she fancied and refused to be set-up on dates. Her reasons were always the same; at first she was too busy with school, then came her Quidditch career and her part-time job at her mother's bakery. If she wasn't too busy with the one or the other, there was something really wrong with each of the potential dates the girls had suggested in the past. She'd even refused to go out for a drink with Cormac McLaggen last year, claiming she'd rather take a Bludger to the head. Who in their right mind says no to Cormac? The man oozed sex from each and every pore.

And now it seemed that Katie found a bloke all by herself. The way she tried her best to avoid the subject of lovers and discarded her teammates, even more than ever, were in Alicia's opinion signs that Katie finally got lucky. And Alicia, for one, was dying to find out who the man was that had managed to get in her friend's knickers.

Being engaged to George and working all day at the WWW was fun and all, but it was a rut. One could tolerate pranks and homeliness to a certain limit. It wasn't that Alicia didn't love George, she was actually madly in love with her man-child, but the excitement was missing. She could not, would not go out and have flings over her own. Instead, she settled for hearing her friends' stories about their dating lives. Unfortunately, they were a tremendous let-down in that area.

Katie was, well, Katie. The girl rarely managed to free time to meet with her old friends and on the rare occasions they managed to meet up, she never told anything remotely interesting. And then there was Angie, a total bust. After her breakup with Fred last year, she had been on dates with several of her colleagues and had been very forthcoming in telling all about them, in detail. But, it had been boring, for lack of be a better term. The dates themselves and hearing about them, were just plain mind numbing boring. The most exciting thing that had happened during those dates was a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Alicia hoped to get Katie to spill out some raunchy details on her secret lover to make up for the lack of excitement in her own life, and in Angie's.

Meanwhile, Angelina signalled a waiter to bring them another bottle of wine. Between the three of them, they'd already emptied two bottles and the evening was far from over. Judging by Katie's rosy cheeks, she was getting tipsy. This was the perfect time to strike. Katie was going to spill her secret, if she wanted to or not. Angie stretched her neck and cracked her knuckles in preparation, earning her a wary look from Katie.

"So, Katie. Care to tell us about it?" The unexpected approach was always the best, one of the first things she had learned during her Auror training.

Katie's fork stilled mid-air and she frowned at Angie. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Katie brought the piece of steak to her mouth and chewed for what seemed ages. "Tell what?" she finally managed to ask. She had been right in the middle of explaining how she had finally mastered the Woollongong Shimmy, was there more to tell?

"Whatever it is that you're not telling," Angelina replied impatiently, mentally scolding herself for not using the correct tone. It should have sounded casual. Not like she was channelling her mother.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Katie shrugged, not meeting Angie's eyes. Instead she opted for drinking her wine, topped it off and drank another big gulp.

"Oh, come on. You're hiding something. Just tell us," Alicia whined, lacking Angelina's patience, "I'm dying here."

"Yeah, we're your friends. You can tell us, we won't judge you. Too much," Angie added calmly, very proud of her self this time, "We never do, as you know."

Katie nearly sprayed her wine at that last comment. Where they serious? When had they not judged? "Really. There is noth-"

"Oh, I know! You have sex with someone!" Alicia interrupted her eagerly, earning her an eye roll from Angelina. "Who was it? No, no, no, wait. First, _how_ was he?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous," Katie protested, "Where did you-"

"Someone from the team?" Alicia interrupted again, she was on a roll now. Seeing Katie shake her head, she guessed again, "The whole team? You vixen, I didn't know you had it in you."

Katie blinked a few times, trying to process what Alicia was asking. "Are you mental? Ally, you really need to-"

"Oh, not the whole team?" Alicia was genuinely disappointed, "Someone from another team, then?"

"Alicia Spinnet! Stop it right-" Katie felt her cheeks heat up at her friend's insinuations. Unfortunately, before she could protest further, she was interrupted again.

"Was it a girl? You can tell us, there is nothing wrong with that," Alicia nodded knowingly, "I think Demelza Robbins tried that once or twice. Or still does, I'm not sure. I bet she can give you some pointers, you know, to improve your game, so to speak."

Katie rubbed her face in annoyance, "Bloody hell woman. Just stop-"

It was now Angie's turn to interrupt. She had watched the interaction in amusement, but an intervention seemed just about right. Alicia was not known for her tact or lack of imagination and by now, Katie would be all too willing to rebut Alicia's theories. "She'll go on for ages, you know. There is only one way to stop her."

Katie took another big gulp from her glass, thinking over her options. The girls were relentless whenever they got like this, she'd seen them in action many times before. Usually they spared her, but it seemed that her luck had run out. Maybe, it was time to tell. They were bound to found out soon anyway. And she wasn't sure how much of Alicia's comments she could stomach.

"Fine. There is something. Where to start?" Katie mused. Should she just blurt it out or turn it into an elaborate story? Fortunately, Angie came up with a solution for her dilemma. A third option.

"Why don't we ask you questions and you answer them honestly?"

"You just want to practice your interrogation skills," Alicia snorted. Honestly, since Angelina joined the Auror department, she thought herself an expert in everything. What was wrong with her questions? She had nearly cornered Katie, hadn't she?

"So what?" Angelina shrugged, "It'll get the job done. You know how Katie is, she'll go one for ages, even worse than you, before she gets to the point. Remember when she got her acceptance letter to Puddlemere? The bint talked for hours on end about the bristles on her broom before she told us."

"I'm still here, you know," Katie retorted tartly, folding her arms. No-one understood the delicate art of arranging the bristles on a broom, "But fine, ask away."

Angie and Alicia shared a look and grinned at each other. Both knew that this was their chance to solve the past and current mystery.

"I'll start again," Alicia began. Seeing the look on her friends' faces, she added hastily, "I'll keep it clean, promise."

Katie braced herself. The moment of truth had arrived and strangely, she felt relieved. Finally, she would be to share her secret after all this time. Only her friends' potential reactions worried her. Leanne had known for years and never made a fuss about it. But then again, her Hufflepuff friend was laidback like that. Angelina and Alicia were different; they lived for drama and scandals.

"Who were you shagging in your fourth year?" Angie sighed exasperated and smacked her forehead. Katie merely rolled her eyes and ordered another bottle. They hadn't expected anything else from Alicia. She just looked innocently at them, not understanding their reaction. "What did I say?"

"I've never done…that in fourth year," Katie answered easily, shaking her head. It was the truth, she hadn't. Not that year, anyway.

"What our depraved friend meant to ask was,' Angie looked pointedly at Alicia, 'if you were seeing someone in your fourth year?"

Alicia mumbled something unintelligible and topped off her glass. When it took too long for Katie to answer in her opinion, she thrust the goblet in her friend's direction, spilling the contents on the table. "Well? Come on, answer her."

Katie took a deep breath before she answered, "Yes, I was."

"Why were you sneaking around?" Angelina was getting excited. She planned on working down on her mental checklist before she dove into the heart of the matter and asked who Katie had been seeing.

"Ah, well," Katie fidgeted a bit before she answered, "Because, ah, he was from a different house and older by a few years. It wouldn't have been accepted back then."

"An older man?" Alicia asked in disbelief. "Who? Lupin, Snape? Wasn't Lockhart teaching that year?"

The other two ignored their friend. It would not be the first time she drew ridiculous conclusions. Like the time she had insisted that the reason Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter fought so much was because they were secretly in love with each other. Ginny had nearly hexed her for that one.

"So? Who was it?" Angie prodded, "Don't keep us in suspense, woman."

"Marcus." Katie bit her lip and watched her friends carefully. She could see the wheels in their head turning.

"Marcus? I don't know any- Oh shit!" Angelina gasped as she remembered the gap-toothed Slytherin brute. It couldn't be, could it? Not their sweet Katie.

"As in Flint?" Alicia asked hesitantly, catching up onto Angie's train of thought. She had her fingers and toes crossed in hopes that it was not true. Maybe, Katie meant that stringy boy from Ravenclaw.

Katie expected her friends to burst out in horror as she nodded in confirmation. That didn't happen, though. Instead, the girls looked blankly at her, trying to process what Katie was saying. A few minutes later her friends still had that absent look on their faces, to her worry. "Say something."

"Flint…" Alicia whispered in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Marcus," Katie saw her friends cringe at the use of his first name. It indicated a form of intimacy they were clearly not comfortable with.

Another few minutes passed before Angie spoke up. She was trying to purge the images of Katie and Flint from her mind. It must have been one off, no doubt about that. They all had made mistakes in their younger years. Merlin, she still remembered kissing Diggory in a moment of weakness when she first started dating Fred. "So, that is one mystery solved then. I'm sure you don't want to be remembered of that mistake anymore."

Alicia nodded in agreement and ignored the scowl on Katie's face. The girl was clearly still confused. Like Angie, Alicia decided to move on from the subject Flint and would ask George to Obliviate this specific memory once she got home. "Who is it you are seeing now?"

"Marcus," Katie clipped and crossed her arms again in defence. "As in Flint."

"Again?" Angie exclaimed in confusion. She grabbed one of Katie's hands and asked in all earnest, "Why? Is he bothering you? I can fix that you know. We'll lock him up and you'll never have to see him again."

Katie wriggled her hand free from Angie's death grip. Her scowl deepened, "No, still. And why not?"

Both girls were still processing the 'still' part and were not able to answer the 'why not' part. Lucky for them, Katie answered her own question. Because in honesty, they would not have been able come up with one single positive trait to attribute to Flint.

"He is sweet and loving, and has great sense of humour. He makes me feel safe and cherished. The most important of all; he loves me and I love him. Let's not forget that he has a great body and makes me scream in ecstasy in bed. And the before you begin; yes, I am aware of his flaws. He can be rude and crude. Nobody is perfect. But to me, he is."

Angie was speechless. Katie screamed in ecstasy, and Flint was the cause? From all the things she had heard tonight, that was the hardest to believe. The bloke was not what one would call a handsome man. What did Katie do to not get distracted by his less than desirable features, put a bag over his head whenever they were together?

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Alicia was the first to find her voice again, "We're your friends, why keep it a secret?"

"I did want to tell, so many times before. But each time something happened that held me back," Katie shrugged. In all honesty, she had been afraid of their reactions when she was younger and now she didn't see them often enough to share the secrets and intimate details of her personal life.

"Still, you should have told us. We would have supported you if this was what you really wanted," Alicia told her sternly. She thought about the years of juicy stories she missed out on. Damn that girl.

"Really? Like the way you supported Ron when he started dating Pansy Parkinson? If I recall correctly, you two and your boyfriends kept nagging at him until he broke it off with her."

"That's different. Parkinson is a real bitch," Angie started, only to be cut off by Katie.

"No, she isn't. Pansy is actually really nice. She's got a bit mouth on her, like you lot. If you had given her a chance, you would have seen that." Katie still felt sorry for the girl. Even now, after two years, Pansy was still heartbroken.

"You say it as if you know her," Alicia snorted. She never liked the pug faced, stuck-up girl. She would have made Ron miserable. He needed someone caring and motherly.

"Well, she is one of Marcus' cousins."

"You met his family?" Angie asked incredulously. This business with Flint was more serious that she had imagined.

"Of course," Katie rolled her eyes at her, "We have been together for seven years now. It was bound to happen sometime."

"He has met your mum and dad, then?" Alicia asked tentatively.

"Yes, they love him. Actually, Marcus is spending time with dad tonight." Katie was really nervous about that. Her parents had been less then pleased when their barely fifteen year old daughter had introduced her almost nineteen year old boyfriend over Hols that year. But, both had agreed to give him a chance. And tonight, Marcus was going to talk to her father and she hoped that it would all go well.

Angelina was stunned. Howard Bell had been her mentor for the past three years and had never mentioned one word about Flint. Not even when she had retold the Quidditch games she had played against Slytherin when Flint had been captain. She felt embarrassed all of a sudden thinking back about the terms she had used to describe him.

"Look, it would mean a lot to me if you two would give him a chance. You'll see how good he is for me," Katie pleaded. She wanted her friends to give Marcus a fair chance. But if they wouldn't, she would be forced to choose and it would always be him. He was the love her life. She had fallen hard and fast during her fourth year. "Maybe, we can get together sometime? What do you say?"

Alicia and Angelina looked at each before nodding in agreement, their voices lost again. It was a lot to process. Flint and their little Katie, it was just too surreal. 'Beauty and the Beast,' they both thought and wondered if there was a side to Flint they had missed.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me," Katie was relieved. One hurdle down, another one to go. From the corner of her eye, she saw someone walking up the street towards the restaurant. It was Marcus and the grin on his face told her everything she needed to know. She jumped up and threw enough money on the table to cover her part of the bill. "I'm sorry, girls. But I have to go. Why don't you come over this weekend and celebrate with us?"

"Where are you going? Celebrate what?" Angie asked, surprised by Katie's sudden departure.

Katie quickly cancelled the charm on her ring finger, exposing a delicate golden band with a small diamond. "I'm engaged!" And with that she was gone, leaving her friends behind in bewilderment. They had another shock to process.

From the window, Angie and Alicia watched Katie run into Flint's waiting arms. The couple shared a fierce kiss, nearly putting a blush on the girls' faces, and Disapparated away. Neither Alicia nor Angelina had expected the evening to turn out like this. Instead of juicy gossip and spicy stories of their younger friend's love life, they found out that she had been carrying on a relationship with the least likely person they could think of; their former school nemesis.

"I was right, you know," Alicia broke the silence.

"How is that?" Angelina's eyes were still fixed on the spot where Katie and Flint had been a few second ago.

"She has been shagging someone from another team."

Angie nodded. For once, Alicia was right. Rita Skeeter was going to have a field day when the news of Puddlemere's reserve Chaser being engaged to the Tornadoes Captain would break.

Yes, Alicia had definitely been right on this one.


End file.
